


Rapidly Demoted

by The_Writing_Fandom_Menace



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Copperright, Established Relationship, How Do I Tag, Hurt No Comfort, I have no idea what I'm doing, Light Angst, M/M, Rapidly Promoted Executive Ending | RPE (Henry Stickmin), Reginald Copperbottom/Right Hand Man - Freeform, Reginald is an emotional disaster over what happened to his Righty okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29349072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Writing_Fandom_Menace/pseuds/The_Writing_Fandom_Menace
Summary: (One-shot) Henry is the leader of the Toppats now, and has taken responsibility for the role very quickly. Still, Reginald can't help but hold a grudge against him, especially after what Henry did to get his new position.
Relationships: Reginald Copperbottom/Right Hand Man
Comments: 11
Kudos: 43





	Rapidly Demoted

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time ever posting my fanfiction. I hope you think it's okay. I'm open to suggestions/constructive criticism.

Reginald sat restlessly at the meeting table, drumming his gloved fingers on his knee. He was only half-paying attention to what Henry, the new chief of the Toppats, was saying. From the parts of his speech Reginald bothered to tune in to, he was talking about a plan to infiltrate and steal from a bank some miles away. 

“I hope everyone understands what the plan is here.” Henry said, looking each elite in the eyes before landing on Reginald, who was staring into the distance and chewing on his lower lip. “Reginald.”

“Hm?” Reginald replied, not bothering to make eye contact. 

“Were you even listening?” Henry sighed, sounding like an exasperated parent.

“Of course I was.” Reginald finally managed to turn his head and look the new chief in the eyes. “We sneak into the bank. Split into three groups. Two groups distract the guards, one goes and steals the cash, we all get out via airship.” He summarized, sounding rather unimpressed. 

“It’s an amazing, flawless plan, chief! It’s sure to work.” Thomas gushed, his tone the exact opposite of Reginald’s. 

“It _ is  _ pretty good.” Carol admitted, folding her arms. “I’ll bet we can get it to work.” 

As other elite members added their own praises about the plan, Reginald slouched a bit in his seat and glared down at his lap, instead of at Henry like he wished he could. It  _ was  _ a good plan, and that made him pretty darn mad. 

Reginald was trying so hard to hate everything about Henry, but the kid was proving himself to be worthy of his new position as leader. When he actually took the time to think instead of acting on impulse, made up some pretty good plans, was nice to all of the Toppat members, and made sure everyone was getting along with each other and being thanked for their work. 

The only thing stopping Reginald from respecting Henry as a leader was what Henry had done to the Right Hand Man- to  _ his  _ Right Hand Man. Reginald curled his hands into fists. 

“Thank you, thank you everyone! I spent a lot of time on this.” Henry paused and let the members of the meeting quiet down a bit. "Now, this is going to happen tomorrow, you hear me?" Henry stated firmly.

Tomorrow. That wouldn’t work. Reginald needed to stay on the airship for at least another week, he couldn’t be going anywhere tomorrow. 

"I think," Reginald piped up, "that it might be better if we waited a little while before doing this. Like a week, maybe? By then, Right-"

"I don’t think so, Reginald." Henry interjected. "It’s for the good of the clan that we go tomorrow- that’s my final verdict. "

Reginald bit his lower lip- hard - and nodded.

Thomas raised his hand. “Chief, I have a question.” 

“Go ahead.”

“Your plan is absolutely wonderful, so when I ask this I’m not saying that it’s flawed, really, I’m not…” Thomas babbled, “but… why are we stealing money when we could steal something more valuable, like an artifact or a jewel?” 

“Good question.” Henry readjusted himself in his seat and placed his hands on the table in front of him. “I’m sure you’re all aware of the presence of an incredibly skilled doctor on this airship- Dr. Vinschpinsilstien.” 

The Toppat elites nodded. Reginald swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump he felt in his throat. 

Henry continued to explain. “We have promised her quite the large sum of money for her work.” 

Reginald snapped his head up to look at Henry, his eyes wide with surprise. He’d done all of this planning, called his meeting, explained everything in extensive detail, all to get money to pay for… 

The ex-chief looked down at his lap again, this time with guilt. Great. Another reason to respect Henry even though he didn’t want to. 

“I hope that answers your question, Thomas.” Henry said quietly. 

“It does. Thank you for explaining, sir.” 

"That brings us to our next topic of discussion- the effects of the surgeries that the previous Right Hand Man has had."

Reginald stiffened, and he could feel all eyes turn to him. Some were full of pity, others wanted to see his reaction to the topic being brought up in the first place. Reginald bit down a bit harder on his lip, and the metallic taste of blood invaded his mouth.

"As I'm sure you all know, the previous Right Hand has undergone quite a bit of damage from a fight and has been unconscious for the past two weeks and two days."

Reginald kept his eyes fixated on the meeting table in front of him. He felt a hand pat his shoulder, flinching at the sudden touch. He didn't know who it was, but he didn't dare look up from the table for fear of showing his face.

"The injuries he has undergone are quite severe." Henry looked directly at Reginald, who kept his eyes down. "There is a high possibility that he's not going to wake up again."

Reginald buried his face in his hands as tears squeezed out from behind his tightly shut eyes, his shoulders shaking as he began to sob. Everyone saw him, and he knew it. He hated every single person in that room, he decided. Couldn't they at least look away and spare him his pride?

"Reginald?" Henry's voice was gentle and pitying. It made the ex-leader even angrier.  _ Why should he be sympathetic about something that was his fault in the first place? _ "Reginald, I'm sorry for being so blunt. I know you and Right Hand Man were close."

"Are close." Reginald muttered. He supposed he should be grateful for the apology, but that was made harder by the fact that Henry was already referring to Right in the past tense.

"Of course. Are close." Henry corrected.

"Close? That's an understatement considering that they're married."

"Excuse me for a moment." Reginald mumbled, his voice barely audible. Then, without waiting for a response, he stood and swiftly exited the room, shutting the door behind him. He barely took two steps before sinking to his knees on the floor, holding his head in his hands and trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Wait, he's  _ married?  _ To his _ right hand man _ ?" Someone from inside the room asked, loud enough for Reginald to hear.

"Of course he is, how did you not know that? You new here or something?" Answered a second voice that Reginald was pretty sure belonged to Burt. Why Henry had invited him to the meeting at all was a mystery to the ex-leader. 

"If the Right Hand Man dies, does that make Reginald a widower?" Came a third voice that sounded an awful lot like Sven.

"It makes him depressed. And a widower too, I guess." Burt replied.

Why didn't anyone even bother to hope that Right was going to wake up? They all sounded so sure that he was already a goner. Not wanting to hear any more of their conversation, Reginald stood and practically ran down the hall, without stopping until he reached the room he was looking for. He entered, and was greeted by the familiar beeping and whirring of the life support machines and heart monitor.

In the upper corner of the room, there was a bed holding the very person the meeting had just been discussing.

Reginald sat down in the chair next to the bed, which had pretty much become a permanent piece of furniture in the room at this point. He wiped his eyes and looked down at his Right Hand Man. He’d only been allowed to visit him for the first time yesterday, but he’d spent so much time in the room he’d practically memorized the new look of his face: part metal, with a red screen where his left eye should have been. 

Reginald reached over and, gently as possible, took ahold of RHM's left hand in both of his own, still too scared to touch any of his new metal limbs. He didn’t want to mess up the cybernetics before Right even knew he had them. 

"Hey Righty, guess what." Reginald whispered, as if Right were awake and could hear and respond to him.

"I was just in a meeting with Henry and some others. Henry told us that since he's the leader now, he's going to bring the ruby back and store it here. I know he's not technically returning it, but it'll be nice to be able to look at it again, don't you think?"

Right's only response was a quiet, steady inhale and exhale of breath.

"He also wants to send us all on a heist tomorrow. I tried to tell him we should wait until you wake up and heal to do anything like that, but he wouldn't listen." Reginald ran his thumb over the back of Right's hand. "I suppose I was being a bit selfish." He sighed. "Because I wouldn't actually suggest sending you on a heist right after you wake up and heal. I said that because I needed Henry to change his mind about sending me somewhere tomorrow, because I really want to be here when you wake up."

Reginald squeezed Right's hand a little harder. "You're gonna wake up, aren't you?" Reginald felt hot tears start to slide down his face. "Maybe not today, but eventually you will, right? I mean, take your time, but don't take too long, please." Reginald dragged his sleeve across his eyes, but it didn't do much. "Please, Righty." He begged, "I don't think I can wait another two weeks."


End file.
